Ramen Lovers
by liburuzale
Summary: Friendships can be formed by sharing a good meal... especially if it's ramen. A Inuyasha Naruto crossover. NOT YAOI! A one-shot with possible sequels. Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN THESE PEOPL!


_Ramen Lovers_

A Naruto/Inuyasha cross-over

He lay in the mud, broken in both mind and body. Sasuke had done it again; he'd beaten the one he had once called friend to a point just this side of death. Naruto was overwhelmed with the feeling that he had failed again.

_I have to get stronger_. Slowly, the wounded demon-container stood and began to stumble back in the direction of his village. All the many days before he arrived, he had only one thought. _I have to get even stronger. _It became his own personal mantra.

The training with Jariaya hadn't been enough. His latest work with Kakashi and Yamato hadn't been enough. True, he wasn't supposed to have encountered the missing-ninja on this low level mission, and his training hadn't gone far. Still, he was certain that he should have been strong enough.

Yamato and Sai found him only a day's journey from Konoha. They carried Naruto the rest of the way to the hospital. He woke to find his re-formed team and the Hokage staring at him. He wouldn't tell them what had happened. Though he was sure Sakura knew. He just waited for Tsnaude to release him from care. It was a long wait.

Deciding that training was going too slow still, Naruto had one of his more devious ideas. He remembered how he became a ninja, the ancient scroll of sealing, and decided to give the highly valuable object another look. He easily found his way to the locked room with the dangerous articles in it, and helped himself to a scroll. He didn't notice that it was the wrong one.

Hidden deep in the forest, Naruto's eyes skimmed the scroll for something to help him. When he saw the character for power, he stopped. He didn't read the instructions or pay any attention to the rest of the jutsu's words. He just did it. For one brief second, from the corner of his eye, he saw his team running for him. Then, it was all dark.

Waking up, Naruto noticed that the sun was high, and the air was thick with the smell of lilies and milk. _How long did I sleep?_ He wondered at the time. Then, he noticed that his teammates were not there. _I was sure they were there when I did the jutsu. Wouldn't they have dragged my butt home? And why aren't there any trees? I know I was in a forest._

He stood up, looking around at the strange meadow he was in. He noticed a group of people under a tree at the other end. Deciding that these were his guards, because grandma Tsnaude was definitely punishing him somehow, he went over to ask what was up. He was quick to notice that these people were really odd looking ninjas, but he was quicker to forget it when he saw that they had ramen.

"Stupid, Sessomaru," said the white-haired, dog-like member of the group. "He can't just take Tetsugaiga from me. It's my sword, and I will use it to end Naraku."

"Inuyasha," said the male in black robes, "are you sure that he still wants the sword? He wasn't asking for it this time." Naruto hadn't been noticed yet, so he just listened to these odd people.

"Of course he does! It is the greatest weapon of destruction after all." He sat cuddling a really rusty looking sword as if it was his greatest pride. Naruto wasn't too convinced, but if he was that protective of it then it must be a really cool weapon. Maybe he could just "borrow" for a little while, like until Sasuke's butt was back in Konoha.

This pleasant train of thought was interrupted by a weight on his crossed arms and a snuffling noise. Naurto found himself face-to-face with a large pair of green eyes. Not remembering how lost he was, the demon-man said, "Sakura-chan?"

"I'm Shippo!" Chirped the figure seated on his arms. The ninja realized that it wasn't his cute teammate but an adorable, human-looking fox cub. "Who're you?"

"I'm Naruto, future Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, believe it!" The fox jumped down as the ninja began to wildly gesculate.

"Where is that?" asked a girl in an odd, and very short, outfit. Seriously, he'd only seen something that short on girls that actually talked to Pervy-Sage.

"Ummm……….." Naruto didn't know how to answer.

"Are you lost?" The final group member asked, this one a girl in clothes that looked like some ninja he'd seen.

"I'm from the Fire Country." He told her, thinking she must be from another hidden village.

"I've never heard of that place."

"Oh…" as he thought of another way to explain it to the fellow ninja, his stomach growled loudly. The man with the sword finally looked at him.

"You can't have any of our food. Go find your own."

"Inuyasha," the first girl said, in a voice similar to Sakura's right before he got hit, "sit!" The man in the funny red kimono was slammed into the ground.

Naruto laughed really hard, but he still heard the same girl introduce everyone. "My name is Kagome. The rude, red lump is Inuyasha, just ignore him. The monk is Miroku. You've met Shippou. And this is Kirara the two-tail cat, and her owner Sango the demon-slayer."

Hearing the last two people introduced, Naruto stopped laughing. Another demon, one not locked in a container, and someone who could kill him were not good. But his stomach rumbled again, and Kagome was holding out a ramen cup. He quickly forgot his problem, and stuffed his face. He quickly cleaned out the rest of Kagome's stash. Inuyasha was watching him with horror. No human could eat like that. Miroku watched him closely too.

"What are you doing here, my friend?" The monk casually asked.

"Oh, I was trying this new jutsu, so I can get stronger and rescue a friend of mine; but something went wrong and I ended up here with you. I was at my training ground." He looked around for a minute. "But this isn't it. Still, I think it's okay. I still found the power I need." With that he snatched Tetsusaiga away from the half-dog-demon's hands and ran with chakra laced feet. The half-breed couldn't react for an entire minute. By the time he could, no one could even see the dust the strange boy had kicked up.

Finally, Inuyasha roared and ran after the boy. "You won't be able to follow him now," called Sango.

"Yes, I can. He smells like ramen!"

"Well, he'll never escape Inuyasha smelling like his favorite food." Kagome commented before the rest of the group followed after.

They chased around for two days. Most of the shard hunters fell behind before the end of the first day. No one noticed the odd barrier they had all passed through with Naruto, right before everyone except the dog-demon stopped to rest. Inuyasha found him at a waterfall, trying to use an untransformed sword on a dark haired boy with a really odd tattoo on his neck. He smelled bad, like snakes and heavy evil power.

"You're coming home, teme."

"I'm done playing, loser. I found real power."

"He'll destroy you!"

"After I get what I want it won't matter."

"Sakura needs you."

"Pathetic girl."

"WE WERE FRIENDS!"

"How could I ever be friends with dirt like you?" Inuyasha saw the way that the new boy looked at Naruto, just like people used to look at him; like he was something worthless, only to be ground under someone's heel. He hated it. He knew now why the blond boy had needed his sword. Too bad it wouldn't work for him. Inuyasha would have to act in its place.

As Inuyasha ran towards Naruto to take back the sword, he stopped suddenly. Some thing was strange, the blond boy's smell changed: he smelled like a daemon, not a weak demon like Shippou, but a power full one like Naraku. As Inuyasha looked on, the boy started to change; he was growing claws like the half-demon's and what looked like a fiery fox tail appeared. As he continued to look on the Tetsusaiga transformed, but he still knew that the sword was no good in the blonde's hands. He simply didn't know how to use it.

That didn't stop him from trying. Naruto waved the dog fang around widely, trying to make contact with Sasuke. The traitor easily evaded him, even daring to taunt the enraged and transforming ninja. "New toys don't help in unskilled hands. You're still such a loser." Naruto roared in response, and his tailed finished taking shape in a loud snap. He swung again, and trees around them began to crack and lean.

Inuyasha watched in awe. Tetsusaiga shouldn't have transformed at all, but it seemed to be reacting to something inside the boy. Something in him must be demonic, despite the fact that he smelt only human. Not just that, the sword was beginning to work for the boy too. It wasn't nearly as smooth and strong as it was for Inuyasha, its proper owner, but the damage to the trees was a sure sign of the wind scar. It couldn't seem to find a target, though. There must be no demon aura around to react to.

Giving up on using the sword as his target once again evaded him, Naruto tossed the giant sword away. It stuck into a tree and changed back to its rustier form. He slashed out with his newly developed claws and teeth. He was roaring incoherently in response to his opponent's taunts. He hit with great force and accuracy, but Inuyasha could see that he was mostly unaware of his actions. He fought purely on battle instinct and intuition. It was fascinating and horrifying at the same time; he could easily turn against anyone nearby after he had obliterated this weird kid with him. Inuyasha finally knew what Kagome meant when she tried to explain how she felt about him in demon form. He had to stop this. With that thought, Inuyasha joined the battle.

Running with more sped than either ninja ever dreamed of, he slammed the weird kid to the ground from behind and clawed at him to keep him down. Naruto moved in for a final bite, and the dog demon decked him hard on the nose. The strange aura that made him look like a fox burnt a little bit, but it was nothing to Inuyasha. His plan worked though, as Naruto keeled backwards and landed on his rear with his eyes closed. While he was subduing the sword thief, the kid he was straddled on threw him off and spit a huge fireball at him. The strange tattoo on his neck was slowly spreading across his face and shoulders, turning his skin gray; even his hair was beginning to change. Inuyasha dove out of the way of the fire, his kimono protecting him from the blast. He swung at the annoying kid again, and was attacked with a long sword. He dashed for Tetsusaiga, but he was only able to pull it from the tree in which it was lodged before the new enemy struck again. He was wrapped tightly in wires with flames headed in his direction.

Suddenly, there were hundreds of Narutos. Some were holding the mean kid who had suddenly sprouted bat wings, and others were standing between the dog demon and the flames. With odd little "poofs" each one disappeared once consumed by flames, but they did their duty as not a single spark made it to Inuyasha. The real Naruto cut him loosed. "Eh, heh," he started, rubbing the back of his neck, "Sorry I stole your sword."

"Not a problem. I understand more than you know."

"'Kay. So, you want to help me drag His Sorryness back to our village?"

"Sure thing."

Together they approached the other boy, who was finishing off the last couple of clones. Inuyasha gave him a full body slam, pinning him down on the ground while Naruto prepared his final attack: he summoned the full extent of the nine tail fox's chakra. Naruto looked as if he was ablaze. Inuyasha yelled, "What are you doing?" But he could see the blond boy was gone, and only the demon stood before him. He looked on in horror, but for some reason he trusted him. At this moment, Naruto charged them both, and the half-demon could see what could best be described as a orb in the boys hand; just before he reached them Inuyasha jumped out of the way, and Sasuke rouge ninja was struck be the Rensangan Orb that only Naruto, with his vast chakra reserves, could create. With this strike Sasuke flew through the air like a spinning ragdoll with Naruto and Inuyasha in hot pursuit. When they finally caught up to him, he was slumped over in a tree and out cold.

Inuyasha helped carry the lost ninja back to his village, with Naruto promising to treat him to the best ramen ever. They left the still unconscious lump that was once Naruto's friend with the Hokage, and Naruto took his newest friend to his favorite ramen stand, which soon had to shut down since they were out of every ingredient to make ramen. In the course of the five hour meal, the two lonely warriors traded tales of woe. They came to the decision that half-demons and demon containers where essentially the same thing, and they should always remain friends.

Inuyasha took his sword back and went to find his group. The air around the "door" that Naruto had opened for their use, which Tsnaude admitted currently couldn't be closed, had a distinct scent of milk and lilies. He strolled through, still not sure exactly where it was or how he used it. His friends weren't far. On the news that everything had ended well enough, they eagerly continued their quest. He never remembered to beat Naruto for taking his sword. He didn't care, now that he knew what they had in common. Besides, what was the use of a silly sword between two fellow ramen lovers and new friends?


End file.
